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What is the best ham to buy? It depends. Do you want honey ham? Smoked ham? Uncured ham? Cubed ham? Ham steaks? There’s a lot of ham out there. And while we haven’t tasted all of it, we have tasted a lot of it over the course of two separate taste tests. So, trust us when we say that we’ve found the best ham brands making the best deli ham. 

By definition, ham is just cured pork leg, but the way each culture makes it is so spectacularly different. We love fancy, paper-thin, melt-in-your-mouth Spanish jamón ibérico and salty, fatty Italian prosciutto di Parma, but we also love what this article is all about: the best deli ham. Deli ham is iconically American. It’s meant to be stuffed in between bread, wrapped in foil, and shoved in a lunch box. Ham is, despite what elitists might say, also a great snack. A 2 a.m. jaunt to the fridge usually calls for a few slices of processed pork leg. How good is ham? It seamlessly wedged itself into breakfast, lunch, and dinner. A ham, egg, and cheese sandwich is just as iconic as a roast ham on Easter Sunday. That’s because ham is, as Homer Simpson knows, perfect for any occasion. 

In our initial best ham taste test, we focused on the best ham slices. For our update, we turned our gaze to the best ham steaks as well as the best diced and cubed ham. We also included the winners from our best honey ham and low sodium ham taste tests. 

Whenever we taste ham, whatever the form it takes, we’re looking for the same things: We want our ham pure. The ingredient list on a package of ham shouldn’t read like a can of SPAM (although we love SPAM). We want a really nice, not overly salted savory flavor with a hint of sweetness. We want ham with flavor, texture, and razzle-dazzle. Here are the top 10 best hams that made the cut.

Best Diced Ham

One thing I learned from our second taste test is that Kroger is one of the best ham brands if you want your ham pre-cut. Why? You’ll meet Kroger’s cubed ham later, but first let’s talk about Kroger’s diced ham. Craving a ham casserole but don’t have a leftover ham just hanging out in your fridge? Enter Kroger’s diced ham. This diced ham has a great savory flavor without being overly salty, and it has a great texture—it’s not spongy or rubbery like some other pre-diced hams. Throw a handful into the mix when you’re making cheesy scalloped potatoes. Or scatter some into an omelet if you want a finer filling than cubed ham. Bet you never knew how useful diced ham could be. — Justine Sterling

Credit: Liv Averett / Kroger

Rating:

7.5/10

Sporks

Best Lower Sodium Ham

Coming in at 320 mg sodium per serving, this rectangular ham qualifies as a lower sodium product. But you’d never know it from its flavor, which is why it took the top spot in our best low sodium ham ranking. It’s still very savory. The shape makes it perfect for a sandwich, so, if you’re watching your sodium (but not too closely, because 320 mg isn’t nothing), pile a few slices of this ham onto some bread and chow down. — Justine Sterling

Read the full ranking of the best low sodium ham 

Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart

Rating:

5/10

Sporks

Best Cubed Ham

If you’re looking to turn your kitchen into a Denver omelet station, this is the best grocery store ham to make your morning easy and your breakfast delicious. It tastes like cubed black forest ham—sweet and savory and not too salty. It pairs perfectly with some peppers and onions and pepper jack cheese. I’m sure there are other ways you could put this cubed ham to work, but really, it’s absolutely the best ham for omelets. — Justine Sterling

Credit: Liv Averett / Kroger

Rating:

6/10

Sporks

Best Ham Steak (Regional)

My father loves to have a ham steak in the fridge, ready to go when someone asks, “What’s for dinner?” Griddled up? Some potatoes on the side? A salad? Gravy if you actually want to put some effort into it? That’s a fine supper. Here’s what I mean when I talk about ham steak: a slice of ham that’s much thicker than deli ham—about an inch thick. It comes cooked and ready to eat, just like deli ham, but you can also heat it up in a skillet for dinner or breakfast (or, I guess, lunch). Farmer John makes an excellent ham steak. It’s extremely tender and very savory. It doesn’t go too heavy on the smoke flavor, either. If you are in the land of Farmer John, pick up this ham steak. — Justine Sterling 

Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart

Rating:

7.5/10

Sporks

Best for Snacking

In addition to being classically sweet and smoky, Kroger ham is very savory and a tad earthy. It might have something to do with the cherry powder and celery powder in the ingredients. Regardless, Kroger makes a mighty fine, thinly sliced ham that’s one of the best hams for snacking. It comes in that perfect little tupperware container, too, making it impossible to stay away from as it sits in your fridge. — Danny Palumbo

Credit: Ryan Martin / Kroger

Rating:

6.5/10

Sporks

Best Hot Ham and Cheese

Land O’ Frost Black Forest Ham is thinly cut but still nice and meaty. The sweetness is subtle, and it’s not overly salty like some other packaged hams. Plus, the price per pound (just under six bucks where we are) is really, really good considering the quality. A hot ham and cheese sandwich succeeds when there’s a lot of ham and a lot of melted cheddar cheese. Given that this is a quality product and with a good price, Land O’Frost takes the crown as the best store bought ham in that category. — Danny Palumbo

Credit: Ryan Martin / Walmart

Rating:

7/10

Sporks

Best Ham Steak

Niman Ranch makes good processed pork. They make some of the best Canadian bacon, the best breakfast sausage, and the absolute best bratwurst. So it comes as no surprise to us that they also make the best ham steak. It’s smoky, it’s meaty, it’s very savory. It’s a real slab of pork, but it’s not too thick. This is a breakfast ham steak. Fry up some sunny-side-up eggs, give this ham steak a quick sear, and go to town as if you just tilled a field. Unlike Farmer John, Niman Ranch is sold pretty much everywhere, so you have no excuse not to try it. — Justine Sterling 

Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart

Rating:

7.5/10

Sporks

Best Ham Sandwich

Applegate’s Black Forest Ham has a perfect texture, sweet taste, and a nice smoky finish. It’s also thin, but not too thin. It won’t rip in your hands when you go to grab it from the package. You can really stack this one nicely into a sandwich. Folds of ham cascade onto one another for the best tasting ham sandwich that’s meaty but not overly dense. Plus, there’s no antibiotics and they advertise that the animals are humanely raised. Do your own research, but that’s important in today’s food landscape. —Danny Palumbo

Credit: Ryan Martin / Target

Rating:

8/10

Sporks

Best Honey Ham

True Story’s honey ham tastes like it was sliced off a real honey baked ham. It has a thick rind that tastes like caramelized honey. The meat is juicy with a tender texture. You could and should pile this onto a charcuterie board along with some fancy prosciutto and cheese—it’s that good. It may come at a bit of a higher premium than some other honey hams, but I promise it’s worth it. — Justine Sterling

Read the full ranking of the best honey ham

Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart

Rating:

7.5/10

Sporks

Best of the Best

Boar’s Head is famously reliable when it comes to grocery store deli meats, and their ham is as solid as it gets. It’s savory and rips in your mouth like it’s actually meat—not some homogeneous, alchemic ham mixture. It’s a bit fibrous, which gives it that natural, organic texture. There’s a good marbling of fat, as well. It’s sweet, salty, and smoky. There’s also this nice casing around it, like you see with capicola (gabagool if you insist, Tony). Boar’s Head smoked ham makes the perfect deli ham sandwich or ham, egg, and cheese croissant—and good luck resisting grabbing a few slices out of the fridge late at night. After two taste tests, Boar’s Head is still the best ham we’ve tasted so far. . — Danny Palumbo

Credit: Ryan Martin / Pavilions

Rating:

8/10

Sporks

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